What do you enjoy most about this business?
 

We all do what we do for a reason, so what is it about this business that you get the most pleasure from? What displeases you the most about it?

I like the fact that I get to meet and make friends with people from all over the world, and see them on a fairly regular basis at tradeshows. I also enjoy working from home although it did take me a couple of years to fully get used to it. The travel is nice too. I tend to go many places that I wouldn't ordinarily go to!

working from home and being my own boss :)

I agree Chris, the working from home part of things has proven to be a big benefit for myself and my family. It was a hard transition in the beginning but I am very grateful that I have this rare opportunity to help contribute to our household income and be home for my family at the same time. The travel opportunities are also a big plus. Getting out and seeing new and exciting places while getting business done is great. And lastly, I would have to say the friendships. It seems in this business more than others, it's easier to develop close and long lasting friendships with business associates.

Well, some people on "that other board" have been known to hound me about my age, and suggesting that I should retire. My question to them is, retire and do what?

I have a great time doing what I do, and would probably have to pay someone to enjoy the lifestyle I lead. You guys are stuck with me for another 30-40 years.

I think what I like the best about this business is you really are on your own name. If you fuck up, you are called out on it from that day forward. What I dislike about this business is the amazing amount of non dedicated people who are looking to get rich quick, and just the general fly by nighters out there.

Hey Chris, nice topic.

Man, I would have to say the people that you meet and being your own boss. Also, the feeling you get when something is working that you worked hard on (that's pretty nice).

Oh and talking with Canadian webmasters when the Cup is in the states!

Hey Syl I would have never met you!!! Speaking of which girlie we have to get together for drinks.... My word of advice is always have an extra tire when driving to Phoenix right Syl! I enjoy working with people from all over. All of us bring something unique to the table and I really enjoy getting the opportunity to learn new skills. I enjoy the flexibility and of course the rewards, trips, goodies, and cha ching.

Drinks..YES!! Soon, very soon. I still owe your hubby. I'm out of town this weekend but perhaps next weekend we can arrange something. LOL about the tire. Yeah that was a no brainer, I just like to live dangerously. :laughout:

(Sorry to interrupt the topic Mr. Evil.)

Pleasure? Honestly the people you meet in this business are one of a kind. The kindred spirits and the crazy entertaining types that can also be inspiring. We are the coolest geeks on the planet, hands down :) I get alot of pleasure from working with most of the people in this biz that I get the chance to. Everyone is unique, that's for sure!

As for dislikes, impatience and lack of foresight in this business can be frustrating as a veteran bystander. Expecting miracles over night and wondering why things don't work rather than fixing them. I'd like to see a resurface of talented programmers and tech driven people earning good money again, the lack there of, and the competition with mainstream has taken a toll over the last few years, on many levels and threads of talent. As they say, nothing good, or worth doing, is ever easy.

What I like about this business is the access to people you would otherwise not have the opportunity to meet, let alone exchange ideas and even at times cultures. Getting to pick the brains of some of the most brilliant people online - that's not something easy to come by.

I like the fact that I am working from the comfort of my home - closer to my kids - less wasted travel time.

I like the travelling too - being face to face with people you've built solid relationships with for 6-12 months - that's definitely a perk of being in this biz.

There are probably a boatload other reasons why I love the biz but I'll limit myself to mainly those ;)

I agree with you! When I was in the Marines I got into this to make a few extra dollars to put food on the table. I was building galleries and submitting them all over. It was before there was any commercial auto submitters. Everything was hand submitted. TGP's were just starting to automate. I loved learning to do HTML and Photoshop. I used it then to get that extra cash I needed.

After I got out of the Marines and Army I decided to find a full time job in the biz I was having a blast as my own boss part time but I needed to learn more before I could do this on my own. And I was able to make good money helping webmasters work with affiliate programs. I really enjoyed ( and still do ) helping webmasters develop ideas to create great sites and generating lots of sales. I worked for some of the best guys in the biz. I did it then for the lifestyle I think. I made good money, attended every show and most local and even semi local (Short flights) gatherings. I loved networking.


I worked for Lensman when it was just amateur pages. As the Affiliate Manager. I learned how to take care of our accounts and maintain good relationships with our affiliates. Lensman definitely taught me a lot.

Working for Steve Lightspeed I got a huge whirl-wind of an education. Steve taught me a lot. We developed lots of great ideas. Most of them were sitting in hotel rooms or on airplanes as we traveled the world. Set out to meet as many of our affiliates in person as we could. Introducing ourselves to new webmasters and programs anywhere on the planet we thought we could throw a party for webmasters and find enough business to justify it.

Steve taught me a lot about marketing too. We built some big names in the single girl site biz.. When I first went to work for Steve, we planned out our first contest and gave away a Honda CBR 600 Motorcycle. Me and the rest of the office wanted one too. I asked Steve what it would take to gets us each one and he told me to double sales. Steve bought us all Motorcycles on Memorial day weekend. we did a lot more over the next few years.

So I would say when I worked for Steve I did it cause I loved hanging out with my best friend all over the planet. We spent more time on the road together then we did at home most months. He was my best man last year in my wedding. I definitely made a life long close friend.

I do it now to make good money and be able to spend my time with my wife Ellisa. We both work together on Made In Porn and we run our consulting company as well. I enjoy working from home, making my own hours, I like being able to do it exactly the way I want to. Me and Ellisa work long hours but it pays off. In the end I enjoy my freedom as an entrepreneur and being successful.

:happy: :happy:

Tanker

I agree with you Syl, 90% of my friends are in this biz or something very closely related.

So right your reputation will take you a long way in this biz. It's a small group of people in the grand scheme of things if you fuck up everyone will hear about it.

I am very careful in the choices I make in this business and I always try to do the right thing.

When I was in the Marines I was in one of 2 Tank Battalions and if you fucked up everyone knew on both coasts. Guys you went to Tank school with that went to the west coast to serve would hear about something if you fucked up. So I learned long ago to watch where I walk and do good business.

There are so many things I enjoy, but can only pin point a few.
Working my own hrs is wonderful, I hated having to get up early to travel to work.
Not being told what to do by a boss, I love making the decisions myself.
The learning side of things, there are so many areas in the industry and so many things to learn, I'm sure most of you are still learning new things today.

I enjoy all the places I get to travel, and the people I meet. However, the thing about this business that I REALLY enjoy is how much I have learned technologicaly. We are so ahead of the business world in every aspect.

Now the thing I hate most is the lack of professionalism, people rippping each other off and not caring, and the high school drama that makes people believe they can air everyones dirty laundry on a public message board!!

:drool:

Boxer shorts. Yeah, for a good part of most days I'm just working with no shirt on and wearing a pair of boxer shorts. Talk about casual dressing...pffft, those peasants that think wearing "jeans" to work is casual can just suck on my boxer shorts in envy.

i really like working from home:)

it allows me to concentrate more on the job at hand. AS well as making moves towards my own goals.

The people are some of the best i have met and not what the average person would expect from some pornographers.

for me, the money is the bottom line. At the end of the day, once I can't make money online, I'll leave.
All the things mentioned in this thread are nice but I'd shovel shit for the right amount of money and WOULDN'T work in this biz if the money isn't right no matter the perks.

The people are both my most favorite, and least favorite thing about this industry. On any given day I can go from sleepy to pissed off to unbelievably happy and energized just by answering the phone 3 times, or opening up ICQ on any given day.

I wouldnt give it up for anything in the world.

And baddog - those people can all GO TO HELL! Fuck retirement - this industry loves you!

twinkley

hey chris thanks for sending me the link.

i like most the people in the business. yeah, you have you garden variety drama, and what not, but for the most part the people in this business are the reason. i love going to networking events and hanging out with the people that i make money with.

the other part is the ability to learn what you need as you need. like a self taught student. everything i've learned online 90% of it i learned on my own. i think that is the reason why this business is so unique is that you have 1000's of different people contributing to one pot and each of them has their own perspective on what is what, and what sells, and what is the in thing, etc etc.

being in charge of my own life is another. theres alot more flexibility with your personal time and what not being in online.

The good-The people; the money

The bad-The seemingly unending drama; the ease with which new people can enter the industry and take a piece of the pie without having to front any capital at all...and their refusal to do so.

The ugly-Evil Chris, and Evil Chris alone

Chris, excellent thread idea. Great place to put my first post too :happy:

What I love about this industry (and mentioned before) is seeing what you create or follow through on come together AND work. As we all know it's rare, and 1 out of 15 ideas/projects pan out but man it is sweet when it does. I have also found great pleasures in the shows, and making friends with people from all over the world. Seeing people you do business with in person and sharing a drink is a GREAT experience, plus the new and varying cities are neat to see and experience.

What I don't like though is some of the childishness that goes on. For some reason (we won't go into, I have my theories here) adult tends to act more like high school, which can be fun; but then you have a bunch of 25-40 year olds running around acting unprofessional when it's important to be professional.

More than that though is a blatant disregard of the fact that we ARE being watched. There was a big hubaloo on the other board yesterday with pics of someone doing something illegal at one of the shows - listen, if you're going to do that sort of stuff, more power to you, have fun and don't hurt nobody - but for god's sake, keep it on the DL. What we DON'T need is more heat. So, in short, I don't like how self-destructive our industry can be.

One last thing! I also don't like how HOT toons can be, and I curse the fact that the XNations girl up top isn't real. Damn you Xnations, DAMN YOU!

I've been in this industry for five years now, and even though I've had the opportunity to leave it, I simply won't. I really love working in adult. The main thing is the people. I have met some of the most amazing people in this industry, and my work friends are people I consider friends in real life and I don't think that happens when you work in other industries. The trade shows are more like family reunions. I always brag to my friends about the last trade show I went to, how the first thing on the itinerary for the day would be the bloody mary bar. They are all so jealous. I'm not a heavy partier, but the fact that when we all get together we are able to mix business with pleasure and get a good amount of both, makes this the industry for me.

The drawback to the industy is that there is still a lot of homophobia. Take a few certain message boards and do a search for the words "fag" or "homo" and you'll see all kinds of negative, really insulting rhetoric. And I've been at parties after the booze has been flowing and people are pretty well lit and they don't think about what they are saying and heard all kinds of nasty homophobic comments. But I really think that since we work in such a sexually charged atmosphere the people who aren't used to being around gay men are suddenly forced to see images of gay sex, which you can't really help, and it makes it harder to relate to the gay men who are working the business side of it. So a guy who's never really had gay friends or been around many gay people are suddenly forced to see banners and tours of gay sites, and then when they meet a gay man they can't help but get that image in their minds and it's hard for them to deal with. Not saying that this is an excuse to be mean and hurtful, but it does explain a few things. How do we remedy this? I don't know. But it would be nice if everyone in the industry could get along the way that I get along with the scores of industry folk that I feel so privileged to call my friends.

Our industry is a reflection of society Don and until society changes it's views, it isn't going to get much better.

I actually take the opposite view of what you think though. BECAUSE we work in a sexually charged industry, I would have thought that most people would realize that someone's choice of a partner, is just that...their choice. But that doesn't seem to be the case.

You're always going to have people use terms like fag and homo, and sometimes I don't even think they truly mean it in a derogatory way. They're just words to some people. Not understanding what they mean to a gay person, is an entirely different matter.

I pretty much agree with everyone’s views about being able to work from home, traveling, and meeting great people, etc. The other thing that I really like about this business is that we seem to be on the cutting edge when it comes to technology such as, video conferencing, DRM, encoding, mobile, and even Internet marketing. This industry has also helped to make great strides in technology, even as far back as to the times of the printing press. I have a great feeling of personal satisfaction when I see articles from respected journals/newspapers, such as the WSJ, with positive things about our industry. Obviously, sex/porn will always sell magazines for them, but lately there have been some excellent stories recognizing our efforts regarding our technology and Internet marketing strategy.

Good post, Ron. Actually society is getting better. A little at a time. Ten years ago we could never have had a TV channel like Logo or shows like Queer Eye and Will & Grace. But you know, the people in the industry I've met with an open mind are really open minded. When Madame brings out her wooden spoons or Dark Lady talks about goth/fetish things or I joke around about my own bizzarre interests, people aren't put off by it. Even if it's so far out of thier own interests, they are always really open and inviting. So you are right that the sexually charged atmosphere we work in does have a positive effect on people as well. If you work in a bank and you find out your co-worker is into bdsm, it's could be a huge shock and maybe really cause some discomfort. But when you find out one of your colleagues in our industry is into bdsm you say, "Oh, I promote some of those sites", or "You mean like Madame's blog? Cool." It really is an amazing industry we work in. And because of that the negative aspects don't seem so bad. They end up being like a mosquito at a picnic. You wish you didn't have to deal with it, but overall they are something you can deal with and still really enjoy yourself. :)

I think it's learning everything I have about the net, site building, empire building at my own pace, without having to justify my hours to anyone. I love working from my office (no, i dont work from home). We built out a custom fitted 2500 sq ft production studio with lovely offices, and the staff have their own kitchen, lounge area...thats great. To be able to say I can provide for them and their families is awesome.

I try to take our projects to the cutting edge of whats possible technologically, and thats fun. I get a big kick out of that. My wife and I work together, which is a wonderful gift. We get to share ideas, plan our personal and professional futures ourselves, not through someone else's company and their paycheck.

Things i dislike most has to be how business deals get done at trade shows, and then never followed through. Bugs the the crap out of me. If i talk with you about doing something together, you can bet your bottom dollar its going to happen from my end!

I like the freedom of deciding if I golf or work!!! (always a tough decision)

Money is a big factor. I strive to be a multi millionaire. I have two businesses, and want dozens more. The drive i see in others from our industry is a huge motivator. When you see someone at a show who has made millions in their niche pushes me to work harder, and I love that feeling....

Generally the people in our space are very smart, warm hearted and generous. There are those who i find to be too materially minded and lack substance in their characters but they are rare. It's great to spend time with those who love to live, love to learn and love to do business, thats the most enjoyable asset we have....tons of those kind of people.....

I'd have to agree with what most everyone else has said about all the different people we get to know and maybe even meet. I've made some fantastic friends online, many of which I consider part of my "family of choice".

Logging onto various boards on any given day presents you with the opinions and brilliance (and sometimes outright stupidity) of those that make up this industry. Discussions aren't just about business, but about life, politics and social issues. I've learned more about the world from industry folks than I have in 30 plus years of watching the 10 o'clock news.

I love working from home, even though I did a career path for 30 years that mandated getting up and punching a time clock, it never felt "right" for me. Circumstances pushed the envelope, and now I'm on my own. While learning and using all the technology can be frustrating at times, I am the eternal student, and everyday brings something new and challenging. I can learn at my own pace, or when really clueless I can usually open up ICQ and find someone to explain what I'm not quite "getting" ... on just about any topic from design to marketing, to the best place to stay in any given city, or the best wine to serve at dinner. Bottom line, we're real people and we have a LOT of cumulative knowledge!

Being online has made the world a much smaller place, and has enriched me in ways I can't even begin to describe.

I like to start with the dislikes as there are very few for me in this industry. I've been doing this for 6 years now and I can honestly say that their are very few things I dislike. The only things I dislike in the industry are the get rich quick attitudes, there is a larger percentage of people in this industry out for the quickbuck than there is those looking to create a long lasting enterprise. The Second is those few people that are either errogant or pompus or are socially inept. Luckily those people are far an few between in this industry.

The things I like about the industry is how quickly it grows and how dynamic you can be as a person and as a company. The people are the most amazing people I've met, from young to old, from males and females, they are all so kind hearted and most of them are such driven individuals that like me, like to relax and have a good time. Another great part about this industry is you can be your own entity, your own marketing tool, your own business, and in some cases your own content ..... :wank:

I've been here for a long time by my standards and probably by many other peoples standards, and I don't plan on going anywhere. I'll continue to grow with this industry and add on to the long lasting friendships I've made.